go EVOLUTION IN THE PAST 



claimed not only on land and sea, but also in the air. " Creep- 

 ing " is indeed quite an inadequate appellation for the 

 fraternity in Jurassic, and even in earlier times. 

 DINOSAURS Dinosaurs were now the leaders. Vegetarian as well as 

 flesh-eating forms were extraordinarily abundant ; and they 

 presented the most extravagant and grotesque display of 

 life that has ever existed on earth. 



In both hemispheres they were in their glory ; but evidence 

 points to the western parts of the North American continent- 

 as the scene of their grandest and wildest development. 

 Here gigantic brutes were roaming, in the presence of which 

 the largest elephant would have cut a poor figure. Take, 

 for instance, the Diplodocus family, so named from certain 

 branched or " double-beam " bones which its members 

 possessed on the under-part of the tail. Some of these- 

 creatures were over eighty feet in length, and could raise 

 their heads some thirty-five feet above the ground. They 

 seem to have possessed httle or no armour : but the tail was 

 doubtless serviceable for deahng blows. The position of the 

 nostrils— high up the head — points to aquatic habits ; and 

 the animals, no doubt, subsisted mainly on the bed-herbage 

 of lakes and rivers. In such haunts, the long neck would be 

 of great service, enabling the animal to stand and browse, 

 even in moderately deep water ; and, when disposed, to bring 

 its head above the surface. It, moreover, carried up the 

 head as a watch-tower, and foes necessitated vigilance. The 

 feet were fairly well adapted for land-locomotion ; but their 

 construction is suggestive of a sprawhng gait. The animals 

 must have had to exercise great caution in swampy districts : 

 for if by chance they strayed into miry ground, there they 

 must have remained. 



No remains of the Diplodocus family have been found out- 

 side the western area of the United States. Other very big 

 herbivorous dinosaurs were also living in those regions. 

 (AtlantosauridcB). Many of these measured sixty feet from 

 snout to tail-end (Brontosaurus) ; whilst a few forms were 

 twice that length (Atlantosaurus). Remains of some animals 

 belonging to this family have been found in England near 

 Peterborough (Cetiosaurus Leedsi). In order to keep them- 



